Had a radical prostatectomy in Jan 2014 and Consultant advised me that he had managed to save half of the nerves around my prostate so a fair chance that I might salvage something of my sex life. To my sadness this was a forlorn hope and the realisation that my sex life was pretty much over left me with a lot of depression. Being left with the desire without the means to fulfil it was particularly cruel
6 months post op I was offered ED therapy with a choice of Vacuum tube, MUSE or injections.
I tried the vacuum pump. Messy, clumsy and uncomfortable and whist it did briefly make my shrinking penis look larger it did not do the job. It could not produce an erection that lasted long enough to be of any use. So they offered me MUSE.
MUSE worked once, the first time I tried it, after that it never worked again despite trying bigger doses up to 1000 micrograms. It was somewhat uncomfortable too, the dose left in my Urethra continued to feel vaguely painful even after it had presumable dissolved or melted.. I also had concerns that I might leak some of the active ingredients into my wife with unspecified consequences. Anyway it didn't work which brought me to the last chance saloon called Viridal Duo.
The specialist nurse contended that in her experience the injections were the most successful. However I have never been fond of injections and though I managed to conquer the self administration of Clexane following my op the thought of stabbing my penis with a needle horrified me. It was with some trepidation that I attended an appointment with the ED nurse for a demonstration of Viridal. My wife came with me, if for no better reason than I wanted her to see what I was going to have to go through. In the circumstances it proved to be a good move. A helpful and cheerful nurse explained all very clearly then asked me if I wanted to go ahead and try it. With rising nervousness I agreed and watched as this lady took me in hand and inserted this longish needle into the cavernosa part of my penis (look it up). Yes it was briefly painful but bearable. Within about 5 minutes I had a fully fledged erection which lasted long enough for us to benefit from it when we got home. Good job the memsahib was driving because I don't think that I could have. In fact my erection lasted nearly 3 hours, and I was starting to wonder whether it would end with an embarrassing trip to A&E.
Two weeks later I had another appointment at which I successfully self-administered half the previous dose with equally successful (but shorter) results. OK I was a bit sweaty when it cam to sticking the needle in but my wife thinks that she would be able to do it for me. I just have to buy her that naughty nurse outfit!
So to conclude I think that we have recovered some sort of love life, though obviously not a very spontaneous one, thanks to the resources of the NHS and Viridal. My advice to anyone in a similar situation is to try them all (you have that right) and find the one that works best for you. Don't be put off. The dark days are behind you.